Amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in BJP-ruled Gujarat progressing through its claims and objections phase, reports have emerged that hundreds of Muslim voters have been removed from the electoral rolls after allegedly being declared dead in Ahmedabad’s Darwaja–Jamalpur Assembly segments, despite the submission of required SIR documents, with the affected residents and local groups alleging that BJP workers falsely declared Muslim voters as deceased.
The deletions have been reported largely from Muslim-majority localities falling under the Dariyapur and Jamalpur Assembly constituencies, where voters claim their names were struck off even though they are alive, had completed the SIR formalities, and had found their names included in the initial draft electoral rolls, raising concerns over the manner in which objections were entertained, according to Maktoob media.
According to residents and local leaders, the deletions were initiated through Form 7 objections, a mechanism meant for removing names in cases of death, relocation, or duplication, but they allege that the form was misused to target Muslim voters, with objections reportedly filed by individuals who were neither related to the voters nor from the same polling parts.
One such case has been reported from Jamalpur Assembly constituency, ward number 19, where a voter was declared dead through an objection despite being alive, with residents pointing out that the voter card number cited in the objection did not correspond with his actual records, thereby highlighting discrepancies in verification.
In another instance from ward number 21, an objection was filed against a municipal councillor from the Jamalpur constituency on the grounds of address change, even though the objector was reportedly registered as a voter in a different polling part, prompting questions about how third-party objections from unrelated individuals were accepted during the SIR process.
Activists and minority representatives have alleged that the pattern of objections suggests a coordinated attempt to suppress Muslim votes, arguing that this cannot be dismissed as an administrative lapse, given that the affected voters had complied with the SIR requirements and were present in the draft rolls.
Booth Level Officers are reported to have informed residents that nearly 300 Form 7 objections were received in parts of the Jamalpur area alone, while activists estimate that the total number of such objections across the constituency could run into tens of thousands, intensifying fears of large-scale disenfranchisement.
The Minority Coordination Committee has submitted a formal representation to the Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat, demanding stricter scrutiny of Form 7 objections, special verification drives, legal action against those filing false claims, and an inquiry into possible political links of multiple objectors, while Congress leaders and workers in Ahmedabad have also sought police action against those allegedly responsible.